


Good Misfortune

by delta_altair



Series: Trust Love - Fair Game Week 2020 [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Day 1: Semblances/Flirting, Developing Relationship, Light Angst, M/M, Semblances, but Clover is going to help him with that, fairgameweek2020, light angst is an eternal mood for Qrow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23172322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delta_altair/pseuds/delta_altair
Summary: Qrow Branwen had no idea why he agreed to let Clover Ebi help him with his semblance. As a self-imposed rule, he didn't get close to other people, didn't open up to anyone else.So what's different this time?~~~~Part 1 in a series that fills in the blanks of Qrow and Clover's relationship throughout Volume 7, culminating in a total re-work of Episode 12 and the epilogue that these characters deserved.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: Trust Love - Fair Game Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665739
Comments: 36
Kudos: 137





	Good Misfortune

Qrow Branwen leaned against the wall of the Atlas academy training grounds, arms crossed. The room was barren, the glowing floor tiles flat with no dust running through them. He waited patiently for his company to arrive, though Qrow was still a little confused with himself. Why had he agreed to this?

_‘I wouldn't thank me. My semblance brings misfortune. Sometimes I can't keep it under control…’_

Pushing himself away from the wall with a sigh, Qrow stalked around the perimeter of the room. He knew that outside the stark white walls of the academy the weather was beautiful. Cold, but only a soft breeze in the air. It was perfect flying weather, and normally Qrow would have already been soaring the skies. Normally.

_‘That so? Well, hey, don't beat yourself up about it. My semblance is good fortune. Lucky you, huh?’_

All because a guy had winked at him. An _Atlesian_ special operative, one of Jimmy's lap dogs, with a semblance that mocked his own. 

When he was younger, he used to wonder if there was someone out there with a semblance that opposed his own. Wished that there was someone out there who could balance out this horrible part of him, who would be safe around him. Someone who Qrow didn't have to run from to protect. Someone who could maybe stay. 

Of course the universe would present him with that exact person, in an Atlesian military uniform and in the middle of a war. Just his luck. 

Qrow sighed again, putting his hands on his hips to lean backwards, stretching. Harbinger was absent from his belt. He had left it in a locker in the training room. There was no reason to bring a weapon of that calibre into the ring today. Not with what he was going to try to do. His memory drifted back to yesterday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the Manta ride back to Atlas, Qrow had approached the lead Ace Op. "Couldn't help but notice during the battle how you flicked that pin of yours before making that shot." He glanced down at the emblem, the silver twinkling from the rays of sun coming through the window, before continuing, "That have anything to do with your semblance?"

"It does," Clover replied, "It's a little complicated, but it helps me control my semblance. Channel it, so it emphasizes my talents and not that of my opponents." Surprise flickered over Qrow's face, though he tried to hide it. A cocked eyebrow and a slight grin told Qrow he definitely hadn't hidden it enough. "Interested in knowing more?" Clover asked.

"Maybe," Qrow said, attempting a casual air of indifference. "Though I doubt you'd have much in the way of free time, being one of Jimmy's little operatives."

"Well you'd be surprised," Clover said, not responding to the barb. "I'll be at the training grounds, nine-am tomorrow. Come by if you want to see more." He clapped Qrow on the shoulder before walking to the back of the Manta to debrief with the rest of the Ops. 

A stifled laugh had made Qrow look up to see Ruby hiding her mouth behind her hands. Yang was also grinning at him.

His eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Nothing!" Ruby giggled into her hand. "Nothing at all."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of the door sliding open pulled Qrow back to the present. Clover strode into the training room, dressed in his usual AceOps uniform but also lacking his weapon. He smiled the moment his eyes landed on Qrow. 

"Oh, great! I was hoping you'd actually show up."

"But you weren't sure?" Qrow asked, crossing his arms again and tilting his head. 

"I wasn't, but I'm glad you're here." He stood across from Qrow in the middle of the room, hands on his hips. "I have to admit, I was pretty surprised when I learned what your semblance was, when General Ironwood informed us of you and the rest of your team. I've never encountered anyone else with a semblance like mine."

Qrow's mood soured, though he couldn't put his finger on precisely why it irritated him that Clover had been informed of his semblance. He pushed the thought out of his mind, determined to see this through. "Me neither," he replied. "I'm guessing it must be pretty rare." 

“Probably!” Clover tapped on his scroll, making one of the cubes in the center of the room rise up. “Well, you were curious about this,” he points to the four-leaf clover badge resting on his lapel. “Any specific questions?”

"Has your semblance always been related to your pin?"

"No," Clover answered. He raised a hand to flick at the badge. "This helps me focus my semblance, but I unlocked it long before I got the pin. Learning to control it to the point I'm at now took a lot of time, and a lot of effort. I used to not be able to control it at all."

Qrow sighed, "Like mine."

"Are you sure about that? You said 'sometimes' in the mine, and my understanding was that you could enhance it in battle."

There was that twinge of annoyance again. Qrow ignored it. "That's true. It's more that I can never turn it off. I can enhance it to dangerous levels while I'm fighting an enemy, and it gives me the edge I need. But in normal life it just...exists. Not strongly, but it's always there. Sometimes it flares without me making it. Broken glasses there, a fall there. Spoiled supplies, a wagon breaking, debris falling at the worst time." He stopped himself before he dug too far into his own memories. “I could go on.”

"I don't mean to invalidate your own experiences, but it sounds like you're attributing every bit of bad luck to your own semblance. How do you know it's always you? Sometimes unlucky things just happen, right?"

Qrow frowned, "It happens enough, around me."

"Well, I won't try to change your mind on that," Clover said, though between the crease in his brows and the uncertainty in his voice, Qrow didn't quite believe him. "But if my channeling technique can help you, then I'd like to help teach you. If that works for you?"

"Sounds fine to me. Let's go."

“I found that practicing the initial enhancement of my semblance was the best first step. Once you're proficient at tuning it to specific higher levels, you'll be able to naturally tune it down. Eventually your semblance will acclimate to your control so much that it will be mostly dormant unless you choose to use it."

"Mostly," Qrow repeated, turning to look at the other man.

"Yeah," Clover huffed with a laugh. "I mean, I can't tell when a random accident, happy or otherwise, is me or not." He gave Qrow a pointed look. "But I do assume that I'll never be able to turn my semblance off completely."

Qrow hummed, brow furrowing. It was foolish to ever hope he would be able to be rid of it entirely. Steeling himself, he turned his gaze back to their set up.

Clover summoned five smaller cubes from the floor of the training room, devoid of any dangerous dust enhancements. He placed one on top of the other, but not in a neat stack. The placement was almost haphazard, each cube above the first balancing precariously on the one below.

"Alright, see if you can make just the top one fall."

Taking a deep breath, Qrow closed his eyes and focused. 

His semblance was like a barely contained storm, a chaotic whirlwind of his aura forged into a weapon. Enhancing it during combat wasn’t so much about focusing his aura, but releasing it. Taking his hands off the restraints, letting his semblance run itself wild, draining his aura and casting misfortune like rain. He hated doing it. Sometimes the carefully laid fetters he had on his semblance didn’t even hold, and it would lash out unpredictably, even outside of combat. Trying to control it was a nightmare.

But he’d try now. Maybe, with Clover’s advice, there was a chance.

Qrow allowed his control to relax. He felt the tug on his aura, the telltale sign of his semblance working.

The entire stack of blocks wobbled, then crumpled to the floor.

"Oh! Ok, let's try again!"

Qrow internally groaned. This was going to be painful, wasn't it?

\--

At least an hour had passed before Qrow called it quits, after one of the small boxes completely shattered upon hitting the ground. "Honestly I feel like your back is going to give out picking up all those blocks, and I'd feel bad if that happened."

Clover laughed, crow's feet crinkling at the corners of his eyes. He planted his boot on the edge of the larger cube and pushed it back down into the floor. "Don't worry, I'm sturdier than you apparently think I am.” Qrows eyes unconsciously flicked down to the operative’s biceps, before his brain caught up and he looked back up to Clover’s eyes. Hopefully Clover hadn’t noticed that. “But this was a solid start, good work!"

Qrow stared at him. "Uh, yeah, sure." 

"No I'm being serious. It took me a while to get the hang of it, you're not going to be able to do this overnight." Clover dusted off his hands, then smiled at Qrow. "But you'll get there. I’m looking forward to seeing your progress."

He was starting to feel exasperated at Clover's endless optimism. Why was he so determined to help him with this?

Suddenly, Qrow's earlier qualms came back into focus. An assumption, somewhat ugly, reared its head, and Qrow wasn't able to contain a harsher laugh. "You think so?"

"I...yes?"

"I guess I have to apologize, then."

Clover blinked owlishly at him. "For what?"

Qrow linked his arms behind his head, leaning his weight back, away from Clover. This felt more familiar. "I don't know what the hell you did to piss off Jimmy so much, but it must have been pretty bad to get the job of trying to keep my semblance in check. So," he shrugged, "sorry about that."

Many emotions passed over Clover's expression, too fast for Qrow to identify. It settled to confusion, but the way Clover's teal eyes squinted betrayed some small amount of hurt. "I...General Ironwood didn't assign this to me, Qrow."

"Really? It's just happenstance that the good luck charm is paired up with me?"

Clover sighed, rubbing the space between his eyes. "No, it's- ok, yes, General Ironwood thought we would make a good pair _in combat_. It was a natural fit, with us AceOps being a team of five, and you the only solo member of your group. But he didn't ask me to do this." He looked back up, his gaze piercing. "I wanted to do this, Qrow."

The explanation stunned Qrow, and a feeling of guilt soon overtook him. Of course he had already messed this up, had started to push Clover away with his defensive attitude. Typical. But he still couldn't shake the confusion. "Why?"

With a flick of his wrist, two cubes slid back up out of the floor, a few feet apart from each other. Clover sat down on one, leaning down with his elbow on his knee. He gestured to the other cube. Qrow hesitated, but eventually made his way over and sat down.

Clover rested his head in his hand for a moment, fingers tapping the side of his jaw. He turned to look Qrow in the eyes, asking "What did you think when I first told you what my semblance was? You looked pretty surprised, but you didn't say anything."

Chuckling, Qrow leaned forward. "That was from shock. Like you said, I'd never imagined I’d meet someone with a semblance like mine. But after that wore away," he paused to sigh. "Honestly?"

"Of course," Clover affirmed. "Whatever it is, I promise I won't think any less of you."

There was something more behind those words. The whole atmosphere of the room had changed, in fact. Qrow felt like he was treading on the edge of something very personal. He threaded his fingers together, trying to squeeze away some of his uneasiness. This wasn’t his usual style, but he felt terrible having assumed the worst about Clover. He deserved honesty. "I was irritated. Mad, even. By chance I had gotten paired up with my total opposite, and instead of pitying me or being afraid of my semblance, he was so casual about it. He was too much of a nice guy to get pissed off at. Kinda felt like the universe was laughing at me."

Once he finished, Qrow swallowed around the lump of anxiety in his throat. He was never this candid with anyone outside his family. It was always too dangerous, he never knew how people would react. Glancing at Clover, he saw teal eyes widened, almost in shock.

"Ok," Clover said neutrally, "that wasn't quite what I was expecting."

"Which was?" 

"If you had acted like most people? Jealousy."

“People wanting it for themselves?.”

Nodding, Clover added, "Or dismissal."

Confused, Qrow inclined his head in silent question.

Pulling his hand away from his jaw, Clover lifted both sets of fingers in quotation marks, eyes low. "'Oh no wonder you've been so successful.' 'That must be nice, to have everything go well for you.'" He dropped his hands to his knees. "I could go on, but I think you get the picture." Green eyes flicked back up to Qrow's, clearly catching the hint of a grimace on his face. Clover paused, before saying softly, "And I don't want to diminish anything that you've gone through. Ever." It was honest. Qrow could tell he was being completely honest with that statement of empathy.

Qrow rolled his eyes, but couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face. He felt some of the tension seep out of the room. "Brothers, you really are just the most considerate guy around, aren't you?"

"Heh, hardly. But my point is that people have always looked at me and just seen my semblance. Not my work, or my accomplishments. Not Clover Ebi. Just a lucky guy. It was worse before I learned how to control my semblance. People would get close to me in the hopes that some of my good luck would rub off on them."

It was almost a perfect inverse of Qrow's own self isolation. Instead of keeping people away so they wouldn't be hurt, Clover had people cozying up to him for his semblance. The thought made Qrow frown. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to deal with that."

"You're right, I shouldn't. But that's why I worked to get my semblance under control. So that I could always choose how to use it."

Qrow continued, "So that people would see the man, and not the semblance?"

Clover nodded, "Exactly. And you deserve the same."

It was said so simply, it took a moment for the words to truly impact him. An anxious feeling suddenly crawled over him. Qrow had been comparing his experiences to Clover's, seeing the similarities in how people judged them based on their semblances. But that’s where the similarities ended. Their semblances were _different_. Fundamentally, Clover brought good luck where he travelled. Qrow brought annoyance, disdain, or even catastrophe. To the people who genuinely appreciated Clover, he was a blessing. Qrow was an unkindness.

He felt like Clover had just dug under all of his carefully constructed armour to grasp a bundle of deeply embedded nerves. Hoping that people would view beyond his semblance was a fantasy Qrow had left behind ages ago. He felt too seen.

Leaning back on the box, he raised a hand to rub the back of his neck. "I-I don't know about that. That seems like a bit of a jump, from you to me?"

"No, but why do you think so?" Clover leaned forward, countering his motion.

"Look, I can appreciate that you've had difficult times because of your semblance, and I do feel for you. I still think that people should have treated you better. But your semblance is good fortune. It was shallow, but people wanted to be around you because good things happened, right? It's not the same for me." He looked down, considering his next words. He admitted this to few people, but this conversation had a gravity that was dragging all of the pieces of himself out. "The problems my semblance causes...if people are avoiding me, they're doing it for a good reason." 

He thought he saw motion out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked back up, Clover was still sitting in the same position. The man's expression looked so familiar to Qrow, compassionate and almost forlorn, but he couldn't place it.

"I already told you in the mines to not beat yourself up about that," Clover said, "and I'll keep reminding you. But that's also why I want to help you. People shouldn't judge us just based on our semblances, but I was never going to be able to change the way every person thought. But I could change how I thought about my semblance, how I interacted with it. I honed it to the point where it was a skill, just like my weapon. Not some inevitable thing. Don’t _you_ want to get to that point, Qrow?"

Qrow allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to really have control. Even if it wasn't complete, just the ability to turn down the worst parts of his semblance would feel like a miracle. "Yeah. It feels like a lot to ask for, though."

Clover shook his head, standing. "Not really. It'll take time, sure, but all good things do. Besides, it'll be worth it. You deserve to be happy too, Qrow."

He averted his eyes again, internally scrambling to come up with a response. How could Clover disarm him so easily like that? 

Clearly he took too long to think up a way to reply, as Clover coughed, then said, "Well, in the meantime, there is one thing you should do. It isn't necessary right now, since you still have a ways to go with getting comfortable with channeling. But eventually you're going to need something to focus your semblance on." Qrow looked back up to see Clover tap his badge. "Having a single object and motion helps reinforce the training. So you should think about what you'd like it to be."

"I’ll give it some thought," Qrow said, standing. "But for now, I've got to go see my nieces, I've apparently been challenged to a video game tournament." Clover chuckled at that. "But thank you. Really. This is different, but I'd like to try."

"No problem!" Clover clapped Qrow on the shoulder, mirroring their first conversation about this topic. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Clover departed with a wave, and Qrow walked into the locker room to retrieve Harbinger. He was halfway down the hall to Ruby's room when it hit him. Clover's familiar expression had looked just like Ruby's when she learned about his semblance. Qrow slowed his walk as he processed this. Coming from Ruby, it made sense, she had known him her entire life. But Clover had only just met him. No one he had ever met, outside of family, had ever looked at him like that. Like they wanted to help him.

Until Clover.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, thank you for reading my fic :)!
> 
> Fair Game and the community around it inspired me to write fiction for the first time in nearly 5 years. I'm very grateful for the support I've received in writing these fics <3!
> 
> I hope you'll check out the rest of the series as well! I plan to focus on various aspects of Clover and Qrow's growing relationship, and re-write the events of episode 12 to be narratively cohesive with the characterization while still retaining an appropriate amount of drama. Stick around for day 5 for that one!


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